1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a built-in kitchen apparatus such as a microwave oven, an electric oven, or a dish washing and drying machine, that is installed in furniture or a cabinet as an independent apparatus or a component of composite cooking apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Known cooking apparatuses, such as a microwave oven, having a cover for opening and closing the front of the apparatus have been proposed. In addition to such cooking apparatuses, a pull-out cooking apparatus that can be pulled out forward has been proposed. Since such a pull-out cooking apparatus is suitable for a relatively large structure, the apparatus is provided as one of a cooking apparatus constituting an integrated kitchen system. Recently, as a result of kitchens being increased in size and formed as systems, diversification and unitization of cooking apparatuses have been promoted. Accordingly, a built-in apparatus configured by combining a cooktop, a pull-out microwave oven, an electric oven, and the like has been proposed.
An example of a built-in cooking apparatus is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a known built-in cooking apparatus. FIG. 7 is a side view of the built-in cooking apparatus shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the built-in cooking apparatus includes a cooking apparatus body 1 having an overall shape of a rectangular shape, a cover 2 including a drawer body, which can be pulled out from the cooking apparatus body 1, and being disposed at the front surface of the cooking apparatus body 1 so that a heating chamber 6 can be closed, an operation panel 3 disposed at the front of the cooking apparatus body 1 and above the cover 2, and a power cord 4 extending from the back of the cooking apparatus body 1. The cooking apparatus is a built-in apparatus is installed inside a kitchen cabinet 5 in a manner such that the upper surface is a cooking top 5a, as shown in FIG. 7. Since the operation panel 3 according to this example is provided as a single unit with the cooking apparatus body 1, the cover 2 is pulled out separately from the operation panel 3.
A cooking apparatus, such as a microwave oven, that uses electricity requires a power cord extending from the cooking apparatus to be connected to a power outlet so as to obtain electric power from a power supply, such as a commercial power supply. Since the built-in cooking apparatus is surrounded by other cooking apparatuses and a chassis, the power cord must be handled with caution. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, since the power cord 4 is connected to a back surface 1a of the cooking apparatus body 1, when, in particular, the cooking apparatus is to be installed from the front side, the power cord 4 has to have a length that corresponds to at least the depth of the cooking apparatus body 1, i.e., the length from the back surface 1a of the cooking apparatus body 1, which is disposed at an installation preparation position, to a connecting unit 7, which is disposed on the back of the kitchen cabinet 5. When the cooking apparatus is to be installed, the power cord 4 having such a length and being in a substantially straight state is bent and folded and then stored in a space 8 provided at the back of the cooking apparatus body 1.
When the cooking apparatus body 1 is to be installed in the kitchen cabinet 5, the power cord 4 is easily caught between the cooking apparatus body 1 and the kitchen cabinet 5. For this reason, installation of the cooking apparatus body 1 may be difficult, and, moreover, in some cases, the power cord 4 may be damaged. To avoid such incidents, the space 8 provided between the back surface 1a of the cooking apparatus body 1 and the kitchen cabinet 5 has to be increased. However, in such a case, by increasing the space 8, the depth of the heating chamber 6 will be decreased by the same amount. As a result, it becomes difficult to provide sufficient cooking space for the heating chamber 6.
A built-in cooking apparatus known as an integrated kitchen system may include a built-in cooking heater installed on the upper surface, i.e., counter top, of the cabinet and a heat controller capable of controlling the heat generated at the cooking heater installed on the cabinet panel. When the cooking heater and the heat controller are installed in the cabinet of the integrated kitchen system with fasteners, setscrews, wood screws, and installation screws, many installation fixings and complicated installation work are required. Therefore, for example, an attachment structure is provided on the heat controller, allowing the heat controller to be inserted and fixed with a simple one-touch operation of inserting a switch casing into an attachment hole on the panel of the cabinet, so that fixing springs provided on the left and right side surfaces of the switch casing latch with the edge of the attachment hole (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 11-118160, paragraph [0022], FIG. 1). According to this attachment structure, wood screws and other screws for installation can be omitted and the number of fixings and man-hour required for installation can be reduced. Wiring cords of the body of the working heater and the heater controller are connected via a connector. To connect the heat controller to a commercial power source with a power cord, a power plug must be inserted into a socket. Since the heat controller has a built-in structure, complicated installation work is required for the power cord. However, this is not mentioned in the patent document referred to above.
In general, a built-in microwave oven installed in furniture must be equipped with a three-wire round cord that complies with a high safety standard. However, for counter-top microwave oven, a three-wire flat cord complying with a lower safety standard is satisfactory. Therefore, the cords cannot be used for both types of microwave ovens. When a microwave oven is configured as a counter-top microwave oven including a flat three wire power cord but is used as built-in, an adaptor box may be used (refer to Japanese Unexamined patent Application Publication No. 2002-228163, paragraphs [0038] to [0041], FIG. 7). An adaptor box is constituted of a box having an L-shaped side view. A three-wire round power cord is attached to the exterior at a predetermined position on the outer surface. The attachment portion of the three-wire round power cord includes a connector for electrically coupling a three-wire flat power cord. When a counter-top microwave oven is used as a built-in microwave oven, the adaptor box is use to store the three-wire flat power cord provided for the microwave oven in a manner such that the cord is hidden from the outside and to couple the three-wire flat power cord with the three-wire round power cord stored in the adaptor box via a connector. By employing such a structure, a counter-top microwave oven can be used as a built-in microwave oven.
When the microwave oven is disposed and used in a location other than the kitchen cabinet and when cooking is carried out simultaneously at the kitchen cabinet and the microwave oven, the cook must move a great between the kitchen cabinet and microwave oven and the appearance becomes unattractive since the microwave oven is directly exposed to the outside. Moreover, installation space is required for disposing the microwave oven, and, as a result, the space available for the kitchen is reduced. Accordingly, a built-in cooking apparatus including a microwave oven having a slide-out tray interposed between the upper stove and the cabinet has been proposed so as to decrease the volume of the cooking chamber in order to increase the lower space of the microwave oven. In this way, a storage cabinet can be disposed, the object to be cooked can be easily taken out and put in, and cooking with the stove and the microwave oven can be simultaneously carried out. As a result, work efficiency is improved and the work load borne by the cook is reduced (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2003-148744, paragraphs [0003] and [0008] to [0010], FIGS. 1 and 2). When the microwave oven is disposed in a location other than the kitchen cabinet, if the position of the power outlet is unsuitable for inserting the power cord, known problems such as the power cord being exposed and an extension cord being required occur. However, for a built-in cooking apparatus, no descriptions on the positioning and the handling of the power cord during installation have been provided in the patent document referred to above.
Accordingly, for a built-in kitchen apparatus to be installed in furniture or a cabinet as an independent apparatus or a component of a composite cooking apparatus, there are problems to be solved in order to safely and efficiently store a power cord by using the rigidity of the power cord itself during installation of a kitchen apparatus body in the furniture or cabinet.